THURSDAY MORNING'S TOP STORIES

By

SimonKennedy

Pre-open moves

U.S. stock market futures were modestly higher Thursday as investors continued to weight the Federal Reserve's surprise move to buy government bonds and after Oracle Corp. declared its first ever quarterly dividend.

Global markets

European stocks moved higher following the Federal Reserve's decision to purchase Treasury bonds, with U.K. insurer Prudential Plc
PUK, -0.25%
leading the sector higher after strong results. Asian markets were mixed, with export-related stocks falling in Japan.

Broker action

J.P. Morgan upgraded Alcoa Inc.
AA, -1.08%
to overweight from neutral, and lifted the aluminum producer's price target to $12 from $8. "With the equity offering out of the way and the dividend finally cut, we believe the two biggest potential shoes to drop for the stock are now in the share price," the broker said.

Analysts at J.P. Morgan lowered their rating on online travel agency Expedia Inc.
EXPE, -1.07%
to neutral from overweight and cut their price target to $9 from $12. "[W]e believe increased competition and pricing wars will cut into prior revenue streams and limit further market share gains," they wrote.

Oracle Corp.
ORCL, -0.92%
reported a reduced profit for its third fiscal quarter, citing the impact of currency exchange rates, though its final result still topped Wall Street's estimates. The business software giant said profit fell slightly to $1.33 billion, or 26 cents a share, from $1.34 billion, or 26 cents a share. Excluding special items, earnings would have been 35 cents a share, topping the 32 cent consensus forecast. The group also declared its first ever quarterly dividend of 5 cents a share.

Nike Inc.
NKE, -0.65%
late Wednesday reported a 47% drop in fiscal third-quarter profit to $243.8 million, or 50 cents a share, hurt by higher costs, slack demand in Europe and weakness in its Umbro brand. The group said orders in the U.S. and Asia slipped 1%, while orders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell 25%.

FedEx Corp.
FDX, +0.96%
said that it earned $97 million, or 31 cents a share, in the third quarter. In the same period last year FedEx earned $393 million, or $1.26 a share. Revenue fell to $8.14 billion compared to $9.44 billion. FedEx says it will continue to implement more cost-reduction initiatives and will take a charge of $100 million in the fourth quarter related to them. In the fourth quarter FedEx expects to earn between 45 cents and 70 cents a share.

The number of people collecting state unemployment benefits jumped by 185,000 to a record seasonally adjusted 5.47 million in the week ending March 7, while new claims dipped by 12,000 to 646,000 in the week ending March 14, the Labor Department reported. The four-week average of new claims rose by 3,750 to 654,750, the highest level in 26 years.

Citigroup Inc.
C, +0.71%
plans to spend about $10 million on new offices for senior executives, according to a Bloomberg report. The changes at the bank's headquarters in New York City will include a new office for Chief Executive Vikram Pandit. The project is made up of 17 private offices, two conference rooms and open areas, reported Bloomberg. Citi told Bloomberg that the refurbishment, which it began planning in June, will save the bank money in the long run.

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